


And Point Me Toward Tomorrow.

by Lanna Michaels (lannamichaels)



Category: Superstition - Superstition_hockey
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Hockey Gods, M/M, Yuletide 2020, Yuletide Treat, superstition by superstition_hockey - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-23
Updated: 2020-12-23
Packaged: 2021-03-10 20:14:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,294
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28272957
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lannamichaels/pseuds/Lanna%20Michaels
Summary: Luc Chantal quits hockey in his second NHL season.
Relationships: Luc Chantal/Oliver Jackson
Comments: 17
Kudos: 60
Collections: Yuletide 2020





	And Point Me Toward Tomorrow.

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Tequila_Mockingbird](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tequila_Mockingbird/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Split the D](https://archiveofourown.org/works/7584769) by [Superstition_hockey](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Superstition_hockey/pseuds/Superstition_hockey). 



> The title is from What I Did For Love from the musical A Chorus Line.

1.

The end of Luc Chantal's professional hockey career came to him in a dream. He'd fallen asleep by his make-shift altar, fallen asleep still begging the hockey gods for Jacks's recovery. And he was lucky. He was _so lucky_ , because they came to him in a dream and they told him the answer. They told him what he had to do.

They'd given him Oliver Jackson. They'd given him hockey. They'd given _them_ hockey together. But... everything had to end someday. It would be a choice. Since Luc had been the one to worship them the most, it would be his decision to make.

This would be a career-ending injury for one of them. They could keep each other, but only one of them could keep hockey.

And in the end, it was the easiest decision Luc had ever made in his life.

2.

No one else agreed with him. He called Brisson first thing in the morning, as soon as he woke up, and Brisson rushed him off the phone, telling him to go back to sleep. Luc called him back. Brisson still didn't want to hear it.

It was too early to call Jacks. Luc ran a half-marathon, came home, showered, and went to practice. Until he quit for real, he still had responsibilities. He was still a Shark. He just hoped that by the end of the day, he wouldn't be anymore. He hoped that by the end of the day, he could be on a flight to Philadelphia, could walk into Jacks's hospital room, collapse by his side, hold his hand, and know that Jacks would be fine. That Jacks would have everything he deserved.

Luc was still a Shark that night. He was still a Shark when he scored a hat trick. He was still a Shark when Brisson got tired of dodging his calls and ended up arranging a conference call with two lawyers and a representative of the NHLPA.

They told him over and over again. If he quit hockey, it'd be _for good_. "Chants, you're not an impulsive kind of guy. We get that you're freaking out over Jacks. It'll be fine. You need to get your head on straight. _It'll be fine_ ", sang the chorus of voices from his phone. Luc ignored them. He knew what he wanted.

"We can get you a trade to Philadelphia," Brisson told Luc the next day. It'd been six hours since Luc had told Brisson that, yeah, sure, of course he could tell the Sharks; the Sharks would have to know eventually when Luc stopped showing up. Luc's wrists itched and he could feel some cosmic countdown clock in his head. Didn't Brisson get it? Luc had made a deal with the hockey gods. If Luc didn't fulfill his part, why would they fulfill theirs? This was more important than hockey. This was Jacks. "Chantal, listen to me. The Sharks are willing to trade you to Philadelphia if that's what it takes. They're putting a deal together right now. But you gotta give them a week to make it happen. Can you do that?"

The hockey gods hadn't said anything about being traded to Philadelphia. They'd been pretty damn clear on what they wanted and it wasn't that. Wasn't Brisson listening? "No," Luc said. Maybe he needed other representation? Would a different agent be better about this? Luc should look into that.

They were having problems communicating, Luc realized. The suits were talking about money and fines and lost earnings and did Luc have the savings for this, had he thought about this, had _Luc_ had the concussion protocol done... it's like they thought quitting the NHL was something anyone would do on a whim. This wasn't a whim. Jacks had never been a whim.

At breakfast time on the fourth day, Luc was told that Jacks might be discharged in the afternoon. And that was it, that was it, that was all of it. The time had run out. That was the hockey gods letting him know what he could have, if he held up his end of the bargain. Jacks was getting out of the hospital. Jacks was going to _get better_. It was time for Luc to do his part.

By lunch time, Luc had quit the NHL.

And by dinner time, Luc was on a plane to Philadelphia.

3.

"I can't _believe_ you," Jacks said. "What were you thinking?" Jacks said. "Luc!" Jacks said a lot. There was a while there where Luc thought his timing was bad, that maybe he didn't need to rush, that maybe he set back Jacks's recovery by upsetting him. But Jacks slowly but surely got better, Jacks got stronger, Jacks could play again, and Luc found he didn't regret it. Jacks regretted it enough for the both of them. But Luc kissed his poster every night, and extra on nights when Jacks scored, because he knew what he almost lost, and it was worth it, worth it, _worth it_.

4.

There was no getting away from the fact that Luc Chantal was now famous for being a quitter. Pro athletes just didn't do this, Brisson had tried to explain to Luc. Jacks had changed Luc's twitter password so he'd stop fighting beat writers about it, and then had made Luc bake him three kinds of pancakes and get twelve exact things from the store, which Luc had to go to five supermarkets to find, and when he came home, Jacks had arranged a conference call with their parents, and Luc was settling into Philadelphia just fine, thank you for asking.

Jacks wanted to fix it. He wanted to find the perfect play that would undo what Luc did. But Luc knew the hockey gods were merciful. Luc fucked up and Jacks got hurt; of course Luc had to be the one to make it better. And Luc could still mess around on the ice, he could still skate around with Jacks, he just couldn't _play_ , and he was careful about the rules. Nothing that would look close enough to a game. Nothing where someone kept track of the scores. Luc wasn't risking Jacks's concussion coming back; Luc didn't have a _second_ hockey career to sacrifice for him.

Jacks said it wasn't like Luc to back down from a challenge. But some things were more important than hockey.

Jacks didn't believe in the hockey gods the way Luc did, but Jacks was still a hockey player. He believed in the ice beneath his skates, in the adrenaline in his blood, in the screams from the bench. He could feel the beating heart of hockey just like Luc could; he just didn't worship it. He acknowledged its power but he didn't _understand_. And so it was hard, for a while.

But Luc Chantal never gave up in his life.

5.

Jacks scored the game-winning goal in the Olympics. Jacks won the Stanley Cup. Luc drank out of it on Jacks's Cup day and that, if nothing else, convinced Jacks that Luc was serious. Luc wasn't coming back to hockey. Luc was never going to win a Cup of his own.

Luc didn't mind Philadelphia too much. It wasn't the kind of hockey market he was comfortable in, but it had its perks. Luc took nutrition classes, followed youtube cooking videos, and put together a smoothie recipe book with the other Flyers WAGs. He took up rock climbing and learned to do even more things with his hands. He helped make Jacks the best hockey player he could be, good enough to be a legend, one of the greatest to ever play the game.

Whenever he dreamed of the hockey gods, they were pleased. So how could Luc be anything else?

**Author's Note:**

> [Yuletide Reveal Post ](https://lannamichaels.dreamwidth.org/1173973.html)
> 
> [this post on dreamwidth](https://lannamichaels.dreamwidth.org/1171993.html); [this post on tumblr](https://lannamichaels.tumblr.com/post/639122939828109312/and-point-me-toward-tomorrow-lanna-michaels)


End file.
